Archive for the ‘Sony Posts’ Category

Sony is bringing out the big guns. In the newly debuted VAIO Pro Series and the updated VAIO Duo Series you’ll see the incorporation of a handful of Sony proprietary technologies that are typically seen in other digital devices such as televisions and cameras. Ever heard of Triluminos, X-Reality, Exmor? Well know just that they’re extremely high-tech and they’re in these ultraportables.

The VAIO Pro 11 has an 11.6-inch display, while the VAIO Pro 13 has a 13.3-inch display. Both run Windows 8, and both have full HD TRILUMINOS touchscreen displays. As with the VAIO Duo 13, both the VAIO Pro 11/13 also feature X-Reality, which is Sony technology that analyzes images and both finds and replicates missing pixels, resulting in sharper and clearer images.

Round 2! Sony’s giving it a second go at creating and utilizing a full Windows 8 experience through the convertible ultrabook form factor. The first attempt saw Sony receive mixed reviews with its Sony VAIO Duo 11. This time around, Sony has changed some things around, most notably making things bigger while at the same time keeping things light.

The Duo 13, however, seeks to fix last year’s flaws, with a larger footprint. It’s a 13-inch device with (finally) a small trackpad, and a far more typing-friendly keyboard. Sony also shrunk the extra-large, somewhat industrial-style sliding mechanism that made last year’s unit run, replacing it with a far less bulky, far more elegant mechanism in the center of the unit. Another issue with last year’s unit – the lack of a spot to place the unique stylus that was supposed to add even more value to the Duo last year – has also been rectified, with a tiny holder.

Sony’s VAIO Z Series has been MIA for quite some time. For a while, the product line served as Sony’s flagship laptop category, with sleek designs and performance components built into every machine. Unfortunately, the ultraportables were also extremely expensive and beyond the reach and price points of many.

It seems like with the debut of the VAIO Pro Series, Sony is attempting to spark interest again into its premium line of ultraportable product offerings. Hopefully the company has learned from his past mistakes. Here’s one take on the improvements that have been made.

The new Vaio Pro (11-inch and 13-inch models; $1150 and $1250 starting configs, respectively; out June 9 in black and silver) does away with almost all of the crap that made the Z so unusable. That too-shallow, too-small, too-awful keyboard is gone, replaced with a usable, typable island keyboard with nice spacing and travel distance. The cramped and tiny and also totally unusable trackpad is replaced with a big glass one that seemed to work reasonably well when we saw it a few months back, when its software was still in the early stages. The screen is a very nicely balanced 1080p. And it retains its lightness with the carbon fiber body, but adds an aluminum wrist plate to give the unit a more solid feel. (There was a good amount of flex in the keyboard as we used it, but Sony seemed to imply that it would be fixed for final production; we’ll let you know when we get review units in.) The 11-inch weighs 1.92 pounds, and the 13-inch 2.34 pounds. They also have the Vaio’s traditional optional and ugly sheet battery, which doubles battery life.

Sony has definitely come up with a couple of innovative features with its VAIO Pro ultrabook line. Recently we wrote on how the power adapters double as charging USB ports. Now we find out that there’s also a power adapter (probably sold separately) on Sony’s website that allows for the the power adapter to function as a wireless Internet router. Sony’s been really thinking outside the box and these creative innovations, and it makes you wonder why nobody has come up with these ideas before.

The idea according to Sony, is that the power adapter can double as a Wi-Fi router, turning your hotel’s Ethernet connection into your own on-the-go hotspot. Handy if you want to use your phone for emails and web while you’re lying in bed.

Ultraportables are just getting lighter in design and more battery efficient in performance. Sony’s VAIO Pro ultrabooks, have set the standard for other PC vendors to follow for the rest of the year. Billing these machines as the lightest on the market, Sony also touts that they can basically operate almost a full day on a single charge. Perfect for mobile professionals, particularly those that frequent long plane flights. Keep productive, even when you’re on the go travelling.

The 11.6-inch Vaio Pro has 11 hours of battery life and the 13.3-inch Vaio Pro hits around 8 hours of battery life. Sony is going to sell a sheet battery that can be connected to the base of the Sony Vaio Pros. The 13.3-inch version will be able to hit a battery life of 18 hours and the 11.6-inch version will be able to hit 25 hours.

Meticulous planning and design has going into the development of Sony’s new VAIO Pro ultrabooks. It’s been marketed as the world’s lightest ultrabook machine and it definitely loves up to reputation. Watch this promotional video put out by Sony and see what foresight went into producing this machine.

A noticeable change can be seen in Sony’s portfolio of VAIO branded laptops/ultrabooks – the introduction of a new VAIO Fit Series. This family of mobile computing solutions aims at simplifying the naming convention Sony has traditionally used in the fast. I’m not exactly sure how it’ll accomplish this, since there’ still a good number of different series and models to go with, but this is what Sony claims it wants to do with the VAIO Fit Series. To get an idea of what machines will be found in this grouping, think of something that combines feature sets in both the VAIO E Series and the VAIO T Series. These two product lines will eventually be phased out.

Given that the Fit series is the spiritual successor to the entry-level VAIO E series and the mid-range T line, it’d be reasonable to suppose it ranks somewhere in between, with a design that’s a loose mash-up of the two. In fact, though, it actually consists of two very different notebooks: the Fit E, which replaces the E laptops (natch), and the Fit, whose premium stylings make it most similar to the existing T series.

The evolution of Sony’s VAIO Duo convertible ultrabook continues onto its second generation. The original VAIO Duo is an 11″ tablet/ultrabook slider that ran on a 3rd generation Core Series Sandy Bridge processor. A new and larger 13″ VAIO Duo will be debuted June 9 with a 4th generation Core Series Haswell processor. In addition, users will see improvements in the slider mechanism design and the inclusion of a trackpad.

Two things that I love about Sony’s VAIO Pro 13/11 ultrabooks, in addition to their thin and light sizes, are the built-in USB port found on the charging adapter and the port replicator port that has the ability fit a sheet battery on the underside of the machines.

The unique design of the power adapter seems like something that should have been made a long time ago by PC manufacturers. It keeps the actual machine light and uncluttered, while at the same time allowing users to charge peripheral devices.

What’s the point of having an ultraportable if you can’t use it for very long when out on the go. By combining new technologies, such as Intel’s Haswell processors, with a sheet battery, users can possibly extend usage to 25 hours.

It’s been a while since Sony discontinued its VAIO Z line. This family of ultraportable laptops were perfect for those that needed a high-end mobile computing machines because they were thin, light and powerful in performance. Fortunately, next week, we’ll be seeing the introduction of something similiar. The VAIO Pro Series will be debuting on and will be available for orders and shipping on June 9. These are 11/13″ ultrabooks that feature Intel’s 4th generation Core Series Haswell processors. Check out a sneak peak at the VAIO Pro 13 with this CNET Video.